Global Journal of Management and Business Research

Administration and Management

Volume 13 Issue 12 Version 1.0 Year 2013

Type: Double Blind Peer Reviewed International Research Journal
Publisher: Global Journals Inc. (USA)
Online ISSN: 2249-4588 & Print ISSN: 0975-5853

Level of Compliance of Core Construction Professionals to

Ethical Standards in Nigeria
By Adeyinka Busayo Funmilola, Jagboro Godwin Onajite, Ojo Grace Kehinde
& Odediran Sunday Julius
Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria
Abstract- The study assessed the level of compliance of construction professionals to ethical
standards in the Nigerian construction industry. The study area was Lagos State and the target
respondents were the registered professionals including architects, quantity surveyors, builders
and engineers. A total of one hundred and seventy (170) questionnaire were randomly
administered on the professionals and one hundred and thirty eight (138) were retrieved
representing 81.18% response rate. Findings revealed that professionals displayed high level of
compliance to clients service delivery with Mean Item Score (MIS) ranged between 3.22 to 3.79,
educational and professional qualification MIS ranged 3.18 to 3.71 and standards of practice MIS
ranged between 3.16 to 3.63. The overall rating revealed that professionals have highest level of
compliance to standards of practice with 54.76%, while the least ranked ethical standards was
fair compensation with 49.31%. ANOVA test established a statistical significant difference
among the professionals view about compliance of the professionals to clients service delivery (F
value=2.447, P value=0.020) and professional development (F value=3.774, P value = 0.001).

Keywords: compliance, core, construction industry, ethics, professionals, standards.

GJMBR-A Classification : FOR Code:150304 JEL Code: K23, M19

LevelofComplianceofCoreConstructionProfessionalstoEthicalStandardsinNigeria
Strictly as per the compliance and regulations of:

2013. Adeyinka Busayo Funmilola, Jagboro Godwin Onajite, Ojo Grace Kehinde & Odediran Sunday Julius. This is a
research/review paper, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/), permitting all non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any
medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Level of Compliance of Core Construction

Professionals to Ethical Standards in Nigeria

construction professionals to ethical standards in the Nigerian

construction industry. The study area was Lagos State and the
target respondents were the registered professionals including
architects, quantity surveyors, builders and engineers. A total
of one hundred and seventy (170) questionnaire were
randomly administered on the professionals and one hundred
and thirty eight (138) were retrieved representing 81.18%
response rate. Findings revealed that professionals displayed
high level of compliance to clients service delivery with Mean
Item Score (MIS) ranged between 3.22 to 3.79, educational
and professional qualification MIS ranged 3.18 to 3.71 and
standards of practice MIS ranged between 3.16 to 3.63. The
overall rating revealed that professionals have highest level of
compliance to standards of practice with 54.76%, while the
least ranked ethical standards was fair compensation with
49.31%. ANOVA test
established a statistical significant
difference among the professionals view about compliance of
the professionals to clients service delivery (F value=2.447, P
value=0.020) and professional development (F value=3.774,
P value = 0.001). The overall level of compliance of
construction professionals to ethical standards was 52.37%.
The study concluded that professionals satisfactorily complied
to the ethical standards. The study therefore recommended
that professionals should continue to uphold good ethical
conducts, for better project performance and delivery in the
Nigerian construction industry.

Keywords: ethics, core, compliance

industry, professionals, standards.

I.

construction

Background to the Study

he nature of construction industry is complex and

dynamic. Besides, the industry is fragmented and
thereby requires the involvement of various
professionals and specialists that work together to
achieve a common goal (Gray 2000; Gido, Kerzner and
Meredith, 2003). Construction activities involves
conceptualizing, designing, managing, organizing and
coordinating project requirements including time, money
resources, technology and methods. All these must be
integrated in the most efficient manner possible to
complete construction projects on schedule, within
estimated budget, in accordance to the required quality
and performance expected by the client Nadeem, Sohail
and Muhammed (2009).

Authors : Adeyinka Busayo Funmilola, Department of Quantity

Surveying, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
e-mails: funmilola20074life@yahoo.com, gjagboro@yahoo.com,
graceojo@yahoo.co.uk, sunnyodediran@yahoo.com

The industrys primary goal therefore focuses

mainly on achieving value for the money the clients has
paid for. This is achieved through good service delivery
which centres on ethical standards displayed by the
construction industry professionals. Construction
industry has the sole responsibility of providing physical
development through the provision of infrastructure,
manpower development, resource employment, fixed
capital formation and improvement of the gross
domestic product (Omole, 2000; Hillebrandt, 2000). In
the light of this, it is therefore expected that construction
professionals should discharge their duties with utmost
compliance to professional ethics and standards.
Professional ethics is the justification of
standards of behaviour against practical tasks, which is
not necessarily limited to technologies, transactions,
activities, pursuits and assessment of institutions. It
rather involves practical conceptualization of public
expectations in the interest of responsibilities,
willingness to serve public interest with high
competencies (Chalkley, 1990; Fan et al., 2003; Poon,
2003; Poon, 2004a, 2004b). The strength of the link
between the construction industry and the public
therefore sustains its existence through overwhelming
recourse to demand for the services of its practitioners
and unique products such that the relationship is a
function of the pride of professionalism.
However, the most important threat to the
harmonious relationship between the public and the
construction industry is the cultural misalignment
between public expectations and the construction
professionals conducts (Pollington, 1999). This has
brought various criticisms and wrong perception of the
public about the professionalism of construction
professionals in relation to professional ethics. Based
on this fact, it is quite evident that the industry needs to
be dynamic and re-appraise the ethical conducts and
perception of her professionals so that services
provided by the industry can be improved. (Lam et al.,
2001; Doree, 2004). In response to this, the study
therefore appraised the level of compliance of
construction professionals (focusing on some selected
professionals that are engaged throughout the life cycle
of any project) to ethical standards in the nations quest
for modality for combating the endemic and intractable
monster of corruption.

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Global Journal of Management and Business Research ( A ) Volume XIII Issue XII Version I

Abstract- The study assessed the level of compliance of

Year 2013

Adeyinka Busayo Funmilola , Jagboro Godwin Onajite , Ojo Grace Kehinde & Odediran
Sunday Julius

Level of Compliance of Core Construction Professionals to Ethical Standards in Nigeria

Year 2013

II.

Global Journal of Management and Business Research ( A ) Volume XIII Issue XII Version I

28

The Theory and Practice of Ethics

in Businesses Environment

Generally, business ethics involves two tasks.

The normative task of defining standards of behaviour
and the practical task of applying these standards to
business conduct. This is interpreted to be the
normative versus the positive approach. The normative
approach is concerned with developing models of
expected behaviour and seeking out example in the real
world that validate the model. This simply means what
ought to be done and what is actually done. The positive
approach is about describing real world practices
whereby prescriptions of the ideal are suspended until
the characteristics of real world behaviour are ultimately
understood. Normative and positive ethics can in some
ways be considered in relation to the theory and
practices of ethics and how they are combined (De George, 1990). The normative definition of professional
ethics is tied up with practical concepts and
expectations from the public, such as competence and
responsibility.
Allen and Davis (1993) established that
combination of professional values and real life practice
are not easy to combine in real life situations. It is
therefore important for business consultants to be
familiar with the field within which they operate if they are
to determine whether an action in ethical choices made
by consultants is influenced by their values and ideas.
Actions may or not coincide with professional norms.
However, economic and political considerations may
override commitments to ethical values and responsible
behaviour, particularly in those situations where
individual is placed under pressure, or exposed to a set
of opportunistic circumstances. The study of Yang
(2000) supported and acknowledged the conflict
between theory and practice. The study explained that
consultants who maintain high personal and
professional values in theory disintegrate in practice
through actual ethical dilemmas.
III. Previous studies on Professional
Ethics
Professional ethics are embodied in codes of
practice which defines the roles and responsibilities of
professionals. These professionals are expected to be
the upholders of these virtues otherwise known as
professional ethics (Harris et al., 1995; Calhoun and
Wolitzer, 2001). Codes of practice addresses client
service delivery, qualifications (both academic and
professional), standards of practice among construction
professionals, Terrenzio (2004). Professionals must
therefore adhere strictly to these standards when
discharging their duties. There have been several
criticisms about construction professionals concerning
adherence to ethical standards. Integrity of construction
2013 Global Journals Inc. (US)

professionals have been questioned with many

empirical studies that emphasized practices such as
illegal agreements between tenderers that resulted in
seemingly competitive bids, price fixing, or market
distribution schemes that circumvent the spirit of free
competition and defraud clients, bid-cutting, bidshopping, cover pricing, hidden fees and commissions
and compensation for unsuccessful tenderers after
consultation with other tenderers Ray et al, (1999),
Zarkada-Fraser and Skitmore, (2000), Zarkada-Fraser
(2000) and May et al., (2001)
The study of Shankatu (2003) on forms,
susceptibility and possible solutions on corruption in the
industry noted that uniqueness of many projects made
costs difficult to compare. The study revealed the
prevalence of uncovered unethical practices such as
bad workmanship which may not be easily detected.
Vee and Skitmore (2003) examined professional ethics
in the construction industry. Findings from the study
revealed that various unethical issues surrounding
construction
activities
include unfair
conduct,
negligence, conflict of interest, collusive tendering,
fraud, bribery and violation of environmental ethics
among others. The study concluded that all participants,
regardless of professional allegiance require a common
understanding of ethical and professional values to
move the construction industry forward.
Competence of professionals was assessed in
the South African construction industry by Nkado (2000)
and Poon (2004a). The study found out that the
industrys performance cannot only be measured with
respects to meeting clients demands through the
dynamism of technical competencies and innovative
skills only. The behavioural pattern of professionals to
protect clients interest and sustain public industry
harmony should be looked into. This shows that the
attitude, behaviour and integrity by which professionals
handle matters are quite observed by the public.
As an extension of Poon (2004) study, Pearl,
Bowen and Makanjee (2005) examined professional
ethics in the South African construction industry. The
study observed that several unethical conducts and
ethical dilemmas in the construction industry such as
corruption, negligence, bribery, conflict of interest,
cover pricing, front loading among others were rampant.
The study established significant areas of concern
pertaining to the practice of ethical conduct among
construction professionals. The research further
established that 79% of construction professionals were
involved in unethical behaviour, which is on increasing
trend with adequate means of curbing the practices yet
unavailable. Hamzah, Saipo, Mohd, Mohammed and
Yap (2007) examined professional ethics as it affects
construction quality by investigating the relationship
between professional ethics and construction quality in
Malaysian construction industry. The study found out
that unethical practices among professionals have direct

IV.

Methodology

The study was conducted in Lagos State on the

premise that 75% of construction firms in Nigeria are
either based in Lagos States or have their branches
located in Lagos (Fagbemi, 2008.) Data for the study
were collected through one hundred and seventy (170)
copies of questionnaire administered on the
professionals in the Nigerian construction industry
comprising architects, builders, quantity surveyors and
engineers in this area. The choice of these core
professionals as the target population was on the basis
that these professionals are involved throughout the
various stages of construction works. Also, they are
involved in the procurement of building projects as
established by Ameh and Odusami (2009).
Section A of the questionnaire consisted of the
demographical information of the respondents, while
section B focused on the study objectives. Fifteen (15)
major ethical standards were identified from literature.
Professionals ranked the level of compliance of
professionals to these ethical standards, ranked
themselves and also ranked their co-professionals on
the level of compliance of professionals to ethical

standards on a 5-point likert scale where 5=very high,

4=High, 3= Moderate, 2=Low and 1=very low. The
overall level of compliance by professionals was rated
from 0-10% to 91-100% where 0 is the lowest and 100 is
the highest. A total of one hundred and thirty eight (138)
questionnaire were retrieved which represents 81.18%
response rate of the total 170 copies administered.
Data collected were analysed using descriptive and
inferential statistics which includes percentages, Mean
Item Score (MIS) and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The
results of the analysis are presented in tables below.
Mean Item Score (MIS) was calculated from the formula
given below:
Mean =

5 n 5 + 4 n 4 + 3 n 3 + 2 n 2 + 1n1
(n5 + n4 + n3 + n2 + n1

Where,
n5= number of respondents who picked 5
n4= number of respondents who picked 4
n3 =number of respondents who picked 3
n2 = number of respondents who picked 2
n1 = number of respondents who picked 1

Results and Discussion

V.

Table 1 shows the type of organisation of the

respondents. The result revealed that 24.27% are in the
contracting firms, while 33.33% are in consulting firms
while 34.78% are in the government organisations. This
formed a good representation of construction industry
stakeholders as their various wealth of experience at
different sector will provide a reliable data for this study.

Table 1: Type of Organisation

Type of Organization
Contracting
Consulting
Government
No response
Total

Frequency
35
46
48
9
138

Table 2 shows the year of establishments of

firms, the average years of establishments of these firms
is approximately 19.06 years. The result showed that

Percentage (%)
24.27
33.33
34.78
6.52
100

these professionals were experienced in construction

activities, therefore their responses could be relied
upon.

Table 2 : Year of Establishment of Firms

Years of Firms
0-10 years
11-20 years
21-30 years
31-40 years
40 -49 years
Above 50
No response
Total

Frequency
28
37
29
5
18
4
17
138

Mid-Point
5
15.5
25.5
35.5
44.5
50
-

Fx
140
573.5
739.5
177.5
801
200
2,631.5

Percentage(%)
20.28
26.81
21.01
3.62
13.04
2.89
12.31
100

Mean=19.06 years

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negative consequences on the output of the

construction industry. Despite the emphasis on the
importance of ethical standards on the image of
professionalism and practices of construction
professionals, it appears little attention had been paid to
examine the level of compliance of professionals to
ethical standards in the Nigerian construction industry.
Thus this research intends to fill this gap.

Year 2013

Level of Compliance of Core Construction Professionals to Ethical Standards in Nigeria

Level of Compliance of Core Construction Professionals to Ethical Standards in Nigeria

Table 3 presented the profession of the

respondents. The result shows that 29.70% of the
respondents are Architects, 18.10% are Builders, and
23.91% are Quantity Surveyors while only 28.26% are

engineers. Responses from these different categories of

professionals will assist this study to evaluate different
perspectives of the professionals as regards ethical
standards.

Table 3: Profession of the Respondents

Frequency

Percentage (%)

Architects
Builders
Quantity Surveyors
Engineers
Total

41
25
33
39
138

29.70
18.10
23.91
28.26
100

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Global Journal of Management and Business Research ( A ) Volume XIII Issue XII Version I

Table 4 shows the highest academic

qualification of the respondents. The results indicated
that 48.50% are holders of B. Sc/ B. Tech, 7.24% are
holders of M. Sc, 2. 89% are holders of Ph.D. Only
30 8.69% are holders of PGD while 28.97% of the
respondents had academic qualification not less than

HND. From the results, 58.63% of the respondents had

the minimum qualification of B. Sc/B. Tech. This
indicated that the respondents had the required
academic qualifications that could assist to provide a
meaningful data from which inferences could be drawn
for the study.

Table 4: Highest Academic Qualification of the Respondents

Professional Qualification

Frequency

Percentage (%)

OND
HND
B.Sc./B.Tech.
M.Sc.
Ph.D
PGD
No response
Total

8
32
67
10
4
12
5
138

5.79
23.18
48.55
7.24
2.89
8.69
3.62
100.0

Table 5 shows that 86. 16% of the respondents

belong to various professional bodies in construction
industry while only 13. 76% of the respondents were not

professionally qualified. This shows the ability of these

professionals to provide and supply reliable information
for the study.

Table 5 : Professional Qualification of Respondents

Professional Qualification

Frequency

Percentage (%)

Nigerian Institute of Architects (NIA)

Nigerian Institute of Builders (NIOB)
Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS)
Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE)
No response
Total

37
22
29
31
19
138

26.80
15.90
21.0
22.46
13.76
100

Table 6 shows the number of years of work

experience of respondents. The results indicated that
the respondents have mean of 20.9 years working
experience. The professionals would have been
exposed to various ethical issues in construction

projects during this period. This implied that the

respondents have adequate professional experiences to
supply adequate and meaningful information for this
study.

Table 6 : Respondents Work Experience

Years
0-10 years
11-20 years
21-30 years
31-40 years
>40 years and above
Total

Mean=20.9
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Frequency
39
32
28
21
18
138

Mid-Point
5.5
15.5
25.5
35.5
40
122

Fx
214.5
496
714
745.5
720
2,890

%
28.26
23.18
20.28
15.21
13.04
100

Level of Compliance of Core Construction Professionals to Ethical Standards in Nigeria

Table 7 presented the nature of projects the

respondents have undertaken during the course of their
professional practices. The results indicated that 93.46%
of the respondents have undertaken projects ranging
from residential, commercial and engineering. This
shows that the professionals must have accumulated

wealth of experience based on their exposures to

various practical ethical issues on the project, which
would have being gathered both from the management
and administration of projects. Therefore responses
from these professionals could be relied upon in
achieving the objectives of this study.

Table 7: Nature of Projects Executed by Respondents between 2001-2010

Frequency

Percentage (%)

Residential
Commercial
Educational
Engineering
Service installation (mechanical & electrical)
No response
Total

46
35
9
25
14
9
138

33.33
25.36
6.52
18.11
10.14
6.52
100.0

case, they are saddled with the responsibilities of

preparing the cost estimate of any proposed project,
preparation of interim valuation and physical
measurement of works to enable payment to the
contractor etc. They are to monitor the clients resources
to ensure services are delivered with the best standards
and at minimum cost which is the major service
delivered by quantity surveyors.
The engineers ranking also supported other
professionals ranking on client service delivery as one of
the ethical standards professionals must comply with.
Engineers are at the helm of providing the structural
design details of the projects and thereby hold the duty
of care to the client or whosoever appoints them.
Jackson and Powell (1992) established that an engineer
is a person in the engineering construction contract
performing the same function as an architect under the
traditional construction contract. The nature of their
profession makes them to have direct impact on the
lives of people, and as professionals must therefore owe
special moral responsibilities John (1991). Due to their
knowledge and importance in society, they should have
standard of conducts to attend to all issues regarding
the construction activities and thereby provide answers
to ethical questions Belis and Impe (2001).
This shows that as much as engineer stays in
the same role with the architects as a member of design
team, they must be versatile, experienced, dynamic and
well trained to be suitable for the diverse roles expected
in the construction activities.
Also, they should adapt to the changing
environment and client service delivery should be
paramount to them. The results indicated that majority of
the professionals have high level of compliance to this
ethical standards. This shows the need for professionals
in the construction industry to discharge their duties in a
way to satisfy and protects the clients interest. This is
contrary to the work of Yakub 2005; Masidah and
Khairudeen (2005) which affirmed that professional

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Table 8 shows the mean item score (MIS) for

the level of compliance of ethical practices as perceived
and ranked by each professional. From the result of the
analysis, all the fifteen (15) ethical standards identified
by the study were highly ranked with MIS ranged
between 3.79 2.93 which showed ranking above
average. Three ethical standards were ranked 1st, 2nd,
& 3rd that is clients service delivery, educational training
and professional qualification and standards of practice
respectively indicating client service delivery as the most
significant ethical standard. The MIS ranking shows the
ranking of Architects (MIS=3.79, Rank=1st); Builders
(MIS=3.38, Rank=1st), Quantity surveyors (MIS=3.29,
Rank=1st) and Engineers (Mean=3.22, Rank=1st). In
construction works, architects prepare both the sketch
and final drawings. They also have the general
knowledge of planning, designing and oversight of a
building construction. Simson and Atkins (2006)
established that architects must have standard of care
and should be responsible to the client by discovering
and reporting works that are not in conformity to clients
taste. It is crystal clear that client service delivery is
paramount in all professions. In most construction
projects,
architects
are
usually
the
clients
representatives to protect the clients interest. Builders
also ranked this ethical standard as 1st which shows
they are also in agreement that client service delivery is
very important for construction professionals. In most
cases, builders are the contractors that execute
construction projects. They are therefore liable and
responsible to the clients directly. In all the stages of the
contracts ranging from contract award, procurement of
materials, site operations and up to completion, they
should therefore ensure that clients receive value for the
work paid for. The quantity surveyors were also in
agreement to client service delivery as the first ethical
standard that construction professionals should
consider when performing their professional obligations.
Quantity surveyors can either be working for the
contractor or for the client organization. Whichever the

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Nature of Projects

Level of Compliance of Core Construction Professionals to Ethical Standards in Nigeria

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Year 2013

services and opinions are under chronic criticism as

they are mostly unnecessary and unsatisfactory.
The 2nd highly ranked ethical standards were
educational and professional qualification. The MIS
values are as follows: Architects (MIS=3.71, Rank=2nd),
Builders (MIS = 3.26, Rank= 2nd), Quantity Surveyors
(MIS = 3.24, Rank = 2nd) and Engineers (MIS = 3.18,
Rank = 2nd). The MIS values of the four professionals
ranged 3.713.18. This shows a correlation in the
ranking and a level of agreement in the professionals
opinion with respect to educational and professional
qualification as one ofs the ethical standards the
professionals must put into consideration. Architects
ranked this ethical standard highest with MIS value
(3.71), while other professionals rankings were between
3.26 3.18. This shows that Architects believed that
educational training & professional qualification is a
32
cogent criterion for professionals to dutifully discharge
their professional duties. This result is expected
because majorly in most of the construction sites,
Architects are majorly the clients representative or the
site manager (lay men refers to architects as site
engineer). Educational training is therefore needed to
relate with other professionals and to communicate well
with the semi-skilled artisans who might not understand
the technical terms used on site. Generally, apart from
the academic and professional training acquired while in
school, some core values such as human relations are
taught in tertiary institutions. These core values are
equally important in all fields of learning to successfully
relate with people from different families, cultural
backgrounds and also to perform the expected roles by
each professional.
The rankings by the Builders, Quantity
Surveyors and Engineers were similar which shows their
perceptions about educational training and professional
qualifications as ethical standards are correlated. These
rankings also supported that professionals should be
academically and professionally qualified in their
respective fields. Moreover, educational training and
professional qualification is of great importance,
because this is where professionals acquire academic
training, technical competence and skills about a
particular profession. It is therefore important for
professionals to have sound educational background to
be able to cope with the projects challenges. This
finding conformed to Chan and Chan (2002) that
professionals need to be placed in appropriate
educational framework to ensure their continuous
relevance. Professionals should only accept to offer
services for which they are qualified by education,
training and professional experience.
The third ranked ethical standard by the
professionals is standard of service. This ethical
standard was ranked 3rd by two professionals, that is
Architects (MIS = 3.63, Ranking = 3rd) and Engineers
(MIS = 3.16, Ranking =3rd). The rankings showed
2013 Global Journals Inc. (US)

agreement between architects and engineers on

standards of practice as the 3rd important ethical
standards for professionals in discharging their duties.
This correlation is not farfetched as their roles are
interchangeable as earlier established. Therefore a level
of agreement is expected in their responses, this
established the fact that they have the same perception
on the subject matter. Also, builders and quantity
surveyors ranked standards of practice as the 4th
ethical standards with MIS = 3.19 and 3.17 respectively.
The closeness in their mean ranking could be
interpreted that they share the same view on this ethical
standard.
The Builders (as in most cases the contractors)
believed that confidentiality was more important than
standards of practice as it was ranked 3rd (MIS = 3.20).
On the contrary, quantity surveyors ranked integrity as
the 3rd (MIS=3.18) important ethical standards.
Contractors perspective on confidentiality is expected
to be high as they are involved in several monetary
issues which is the backbone of ethical issues in the
construction industry. Money is a strong sager in
construction industry and centres so much on the
contractors, ranging from the pre-contract stage to post
contract period. Contractors wish to win contract at all
cost and also maximise profit as much as possible. In
the quest to win at all cost, some contractors might
engage in bid shopping from careless consultants so as
to have an idea of the tender figures of other
contractors, they also engage in front and back loading
of items and rates in bills of quantities. All these acts
are unethical standards with respect to confidentiality of
information. The position of information confidentiality
have been established by Vee and Skitmore (2003) that
unless otherwise stated should a professional release
public statements that are truthful and objective.
Information and records that are confidential should be
kept when appropriate. Improper information flow both
internally and externally within should be discouraged.
Confidentiality as ranked 3rd by the Builders
(contractors) cannot be compared with other
professionals ranking because contractors are not
mostly professionals in quote. Architects ranked
confidentiality 5th; Quantity Surveyors ranked it 6th while
Engineers ranked it 9th. The view and perception of
different professionals on each ethical standard are
indicated and revealed in their respective rankings.
Quantity Surveyors ranked integrity as the 3rd
(MIS=3.39) significant ethical standard in the
construction industry. Architects ranked it 4th, while
Builders ranked 5th, and Engineers ranked it 6th.
Quantity surveyors deals basically with financial
management of the contracts and this is the area where
the integrity of most professionals are put into the mud
especially if there is a conflict between personal and
professional values. The moral standing and upbringing
of each individual professional appears on how they

delivery & professional development were both ranked

4th. The least ranked was fair compensation (MIS=2.46),
which indicated that these ethical standards are
important for professionals in their professional services.
The overall rating of all the professionals also
corroborated the importance of these ethical standards
for professionals to discharge their duties with greatest
professionalism and integrity. Quality services are
expected by the clients for all the services paid for. The
professionals should therefore note that good value for
money is of utmost importance. Furthermore, clients
create markets for the construction industry, and so
should be placed at the centre of the construction
process as established by Latham (1994); Langford and
Male (2001). Professionals should clearly define project
performance in the services they render as the
achievement of fitness-for-purpose in construction and
also as the absolute realization of the clients
satisfaction of his requirements as established by Male
and Mitrovic (2005). In addition to this, the findings also
corroborated Cardammone (2011) that established that
professionals are linked with notion of services they
provide. Professionals should therefore focus more on
their personal professional development so as to
provide services that are of high quality for all that
needed their services.

Table 8 : Level of Compliance of Professionals to Ethical Standards

Source: Authors Survey 2012

Legend
Rk. : Ranking
Mn. :Mean
Arc: Architects
Bldr: Builder
Cont: Contractor
QS: Quantity Surveyors
Engr: Engineer

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Global Journal of Management and Business Research ( A ) Volume XIII Issue XII Version I

protect their own integrity in dealing with clients rather

than being mindful of their personal gain.
In the case of safety as an ethical standard,
Architect ranked it 8th (MIS=3.31), Builders ranked 10th
(MIS = 3.07), Quantity surveyors ranked 11th (MIS=3.04)
while engineers ranked 5th (MIS=3.04). The 5th ranking
of safety by engineers shows they see safety both on
human resources and equipment as core due to the
technicalities involved in construction projects. This even
manifested in the safety precautionary measures usually
taken on construction sites to safeguard dangers and
accidents such as wearing of helmet, restricting
unnecessary visitation to site, employing safety/heath
personnel among others. Little lapses could lead to
great human and financial losses that might not be
regained easily, and this will not be cost effective for the
client. This is also manifested in engineers ranking of
cost effective as 4th (MIS= 3.06) most significant ethical
standard. Architect ranked 11th (MIS = 3.27), Builders
ranked 8th (MIS= 3.14) and quantity surveyors ranked
7th (MIS=3.12).
Table 8 showed, the overall rating of
professionals regarding ethical standards. Standards of
practice (MIS=2.73) was ranked 1st, educational &
professional qualification and clients service delivery
(MIS=2.71) were both ranked 2nd, while clients service

Year 2013

Level of Compliance of Core Construction Professionals to Ethical Standards in Nigeria

Level of Compliance of Core Construction Professionals to Ethical Standards in Nigeria

Year 2013

Table 9 : ANOVA Test of Level of Significance of Ethical Standards

Global Journal of Management and Business Research ( A ) Volume XIII Issue XII Version I

34

Source: Authors Survey 2012

Significant at P0.05

Mean = 54.76 + 54.33 +54.03 +53.73 +53.61 +52.83 +52.79 +52.45 +52.10 +51.72 +51.63 +51.29 +50.94 +50.04 + 49.31
15

Mean: Level of compliance = 785.56

15
= 52.37%
VI.

Research Hypothesis: Anova Test

In order to determine the professionals

perception on the level of compliance to ethical
standards identified in this study, two hypotheses were
drawn below;
H0: There is no statistically significant difference
in professionals perception of the level of all
professionals compliance to ethical practices.
H1: There is statistically significant difference in
professionals perception of the level of all professionals
compliance to ethical practices.
The hypothesis was tested using ANOVA. The
results showed that, only two (2) out of all the fifteen (15)
ethical standards were significant, which indicated a
different opinion on the two ethical standards with P
value < 0.05).The two ethical standards were clients
service delivery (F value=2.447, P value=0.020) and
professional development (F value=3.774, P value =
0.001). This implies that the null hypothesis could not be
accepted.
The result established a statistically
significant difference between all the professionals view
about compliance of all the professionals to these two
ethical standards. It means all the professionals were of
the opinion that the entire professionals have different
views and perception to compliance. While some
professionals believed that some ethical standards were
significant, other professionals are of the opinion that
other elements are more important and significant than
others.
From Table 9, the result showed the overall
general rating of all professionals, as rated by the
2013 Global Journals Inc. (US)

professionals themselves in percentages (0% - 100%).

The percentage rating of respondents ranged from
49.30% 54.70%, which indicated that professionals
ranked themselves on average. It can therefore be
concluded that the professionals have average of
52.37% level of compliance to all ethical standards
identified by the study. From this result, there is an
indication that professionals in the industry know the
importance of conformity with ethical standards. The
construction industry in Nigeria is gradually coming up
to change the perception of the public against the
notion that the construction industry is the most corrupt
industry due to high frequency of construction failures
that have challenged the integrity of the professionals in
the sector as asserted by Nduese (2010). Improving
compliance to the ethical standard of the industry would
not only come from individual professional and the
industry, but would also require inputs
from
governments as opined by John(2006) that
governments have responsibilities in ethical matters
relating to the construction industry
VII.

Conclusion and Recommendation

This study appraised the compliance of

construction professionals to ethical standards in the
Nigerian construction industry. The study concluded that
clients service delivery; educational training and
professional qualification as well as standards of
practices are the most significant ethical standards
among construction professionals in Nigeria. The ethical
standards that had the least professionals compliance
was fair compensation. The study recommended that

12.

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